Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

Should the government be able to dictate where the dead are buried? Can a town, which regulates a cemetery, tell the cemetery owners that they will be persecuted by the government if someone accused of terrorism is buried in the town’s sacred soil? Does it make sense to be protesting a funeral home because someone is according dignity to the dead? I’m finding the whole issue to be pretty bizarre–the idea of a funeral home driving around looking for a place to dump reminds me of the Islip Garbage Barge incident of 1987, or maybe Charlie trapped forever beneath the streets of Boston on the MTA. Except that there is supposed to be some concept of human dignity here, and I’m wondering if Linsky would support digging up all criminals buried in Natick, to preserve the integrity of the community.